The Good Slytherin
by CharlotteInDisguise
Summary: This story follows Emily Moon, a young muggle born. It's three summers after the battle of Hogwarts, and she is about to get the surprise of her life...


**It's three summers after the Battle of Hogwarts, and young, muggle born Emily Moon is about to get the surprise of her life…**

**I own barely any of this story, only the character names you don't recognise from the Harry Potter series, everything else is ©JK Rowling**

Emily was sitting in her room, rereading her favourite book. It was the summer, and all her friends had just gone away early to a prepatory school. Emily, however, was going to a standard secondary school, as her parents weren't able to pay the fees of a posh boarding school. She looked at her wall, filled with pictures of her friends, and wished for the thousandth time that she could join them. Sighing as she turned the page, she heard the doorbell ring.

She crept out of her room and sat on the banister, trying to hear who was at the door. As an only child, she was used to being left out of conversations, so she had adopted the habit of eavesdropping whenever possible, and was very good at not getting caught. As she peeked through the railings, however, she almost gasped in surprise.

Standing at her doorstep was the most oddly dressed man she had ever seen. He was wearing a purple embroidered smoking jacket, buttoned up over his large belly, with what looked like paisley pyjama trousers. On his feet was a pair of long, pointy brown shoes, with pink and yellow argyle socks just visible. He was quite elderly, and was so short that, combined with his girth, made him ever so slightly resemble an overstuffed teddy bear. Her parents were staring at him with a combination of shock and amusement, and a long, awkward silence followed as they tried to take in his bizarre appearance. Eventually he cleared his throat and started to talk.

"Good Morning, erm…" he checked an old-looking piece of paper and coughed. "Mr and Mrs Moon. I have come here to deliver a letter to your daughter."

Emily's mother looked at him with surprise, and said quietly "You could have just posted it."

The man looked at her a moment, and then let out a hearty chuckle.

"Ah, madam, this is the kind of letter that needs to be delivered in person. May I come in?"

Emily's parents, being polite, well brought-up people, obliged instantly. They lead him into their sitting room and brought him a cup of tea and some biscuits. Emily's mother called to her to come down, and Emily quickly walked back into her room and came out again, to give the impression that she hadn't been listening at the stairs. She walked into the sitting room and tried to feign shock at the man's appearance, even though she had already grown accustomed to his unusual dress sense. She took a biscuit and sat on the sofa opposite him, next to her mother. Her father stood behind them, creating the perfect family portrait. The man smiled at this picture postcard, cleared his throat again, and started to speak.

"My name" he said gruffly "Is Professor Horace Slughorn, and I teach at a school called Hogwarts."

"Hogwarts? What a strange name." Emily's father grumbled. "I've never heard of it."

"Well that's because we try to keep it a secret from muggles like you."

It hadn't sounded like an insult, but Emily's father bristled at the unfamiliar word.

"What did you just call me?" he demanded, but Slughorn ignored him and turned to Emily.

"Hogwarts, you see, is a school of magic."

The whole family looked at Slughorn in confusion. He simply grinned at them, clearly enjoying their bemused expressions.

"Magic?" said Emily's father. "What on earth are you talking about?"

Slughorn sighed. "Magic is real, as are goblins, elves, giants, trolls, hags, banshees, vampires, werewolves, wizards and witches. Which is what your daughter is, by the way. A witch."

The whole family gasped in unison, as Slughorn leaned back in his chair, a satisfied smirk on his face.

"My daughter's a… witch." Emily's mother didn't sound shocked. Instead she sounded as if that made perfect sense. Emily's father looked at her in shock. She looked back at him and sighed.

"Oh Charles, don't look at me like that. We've always known there was something different about her, ever since the Trisha incident."

Trisha Wilkinson-Smith had been a girl in Emily's class at school when she had first started. She was in the year above her, and her and her cohorts had found out about Emily's lack of class and wealth. For this, she took to bullying Emily. At the time, Emily had just learned to grin and bear it. She didn't believe for one minute that Trisha was in any way better than her, so ignored her relentless teasing. One day, though, Trisha found her alone in the cloakroom, and grabbed her hair and pulled. Emily pushed her away in the struggle, and Trisha fell on the floor. Next thing Emily knew, Trisha was being pulled up off the ground by an invisible force, which lifted her up higher, higher, until it hooked her skirt on a coat peg. Trisha was found there two hours later by the caretaker, and was screaming about how Emily had somehow put her up there. Emily's parents were called in, but as the peg had been about a metre higher than Emily was they had not actual proof that Emily was to blame for the incident. When they got home, Emily told them what had happened over dinner, and promptly left the table to her room to try and piece together what had happened. Her parents had looked at each other across the table as she left, worried about their young daughter.

Emily's father remembered this, and realised that his wife was right. There was something different about Emily, and this was the only explanation that made sense. After the long silence, Emily finally piped up.

"What about Hobbits?"

The three adults looked at her in confusion.

'What about Hobbits, darling?" Emily's mother said, bewildered.

"Do Hobbits exist, too?" replied Emily, looking at Slughorn with a cheeky grin on her face. Slughorn chuckled.

"Smart daughter you've got there. Maybe she'll be a Ravenclaw."

"A what?"

Slughorn smiled patronisingly.

"Hogwarts splits its students into four houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. I used to be the head of Slytherin house, but I'm retiring properly soon, so I'm starting to wind down in my old age."

"How are they split?" Emily's mother asked curiously.

"Well, the houses are sorted into different personalities. Gryffindors value bravery, Hufflepuffs value kindness, Ravenclaws value brains and Slytherins value cunning. I have a book that goes into more detail than that, here."

He handed Emily an old, leather bound book that had silver lettering on it. The words spelled out 'Hogwarts: A History'.

"Now, I have to be on my way soon, but first, here is the letter you were sent. It will tell you how to get to a place where you can get schoolbooks, robes, and things like that. We have someone who can accompany you there if you'd like, but you'll need to fill out a form-"

"Wait!" Emily's father exclaimed. "You didn't tell us she was going to this school! We never put her name down, and besides, we can't afford boarding school."

"Ah!" replied Slughorn "Of course, I almost forgot. Hogwarts witches and wizards get put on the list for each year automatically at birth. For those who can't afford it, we have the Helga Hufflepuff foundation, which funds the poorer witches and wizards their school fees."

"So… it's like a scholarship?" replied Emily's mother.

"Yes, just like a scholarship" said Slughorn. "So would you like to be accompanied to Diagon Alley? We have an opening on the 21st August." He said this directly to Emily. She looked at both of her parents, but for once they didn't answer for her. This decision was hers.

"If that's ok, then yes." Her voice suddenly sounded quite small.

"Excellent." Replied Slughorn, beaming. "Just sign here then, Mrs Moon, and I'll be on my way."

When he had left, the family all sat down in silence. Emily's father finally looked up after half an hour of contemplation, and said, "Well, I believe a congratulations is in order."

Emily grinned, and for the first time ever, she felt like an adult.


End file.
